Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Seattle Electrical Storm!

Panasonic GH2, 14-140mm, f/6.3, 3.2 secs, iso 320

With Hurricane Irene pummeling the East Coast at this moment, I thought I'd show you we are having our own weather event right here in Seattle! Ever seen an electrical storm like this? Me neither. This is one of those "in camera effects" that some of us photogs enjoy. A somewhat long exposure, where at the end of it I twisted the lens zoom ring quickly, which is what made the "lightning."

Most of the times you try out these effects, they don't work well. This one kind of looks like a Hollywood special effects shot, so I'm liking it.

Topaz Tuesday - Watercolors

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm F/2.0, f/2, 1/100, iso 100

As I have often remarked here on the blog, you have to be very selective when applying Topaz filters to people shots. I have been successful mainly when the subject has a lot of "character."

When I was looking at this image from a shoot back in 2010 it occurred to me that the painting effect of Topaz Simplify might work. It seemed like a Watercolor preset natural, but after trying it I settled on the Oil Painting preset.

Using the original image however I wasn't happy with the results. As you'll see on the Continue link below, in the original the kids were overexposed. No problem. Back into Lightroom. First I did highlight recovery, but that still didn't give me what I was looking for. So I pulled in a GND filter from the left and right sides, and adjusted the filter strength. The clothes still had some blown bits so I applied some negative exposure with the paintbrush. All of this took perhaps 60 seconds.

Back into Topaz Simplify and the Oil Painting preset. Then I did some adjustments with theSimplify Size and Feature Boost sliders. A slight bump on the Saturation slider. Now I had exactly what I was looking for. Let me know what you think of this one?

Fun Friday - Purple Power

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm F/2.0, f/4.0, 1/1250, iso 800

Haven't done a fun friday for a while. Usually it is some type of joke image, but today it's just a "fun image" that I took and processed. While at a party in Long Beach last year I looked up and saw this pole. Just snapped a quick shot. In Lightroom, changing the tone from the gray sky to the purple... well I think it is fun anyway!

Topaz Tuesday - Abraxas

Canon 5D Mk II, 135mm F/2.0, f/2.0, 1/1600, iso 400

Thought I'd try something different this Topaz Tuesday. Taking it easy, you might say, as the past two weeks I have received feedback of "overdoing" the Topaz Adjust effect.  Lots of good feedback too, thank you people.

I shot this old fishing boat during Christmas week, over in Tomales Bay. A boat named "Abraxas." Must be a Santana fan eh?

The setting reminded me of a painting, so I thought why not give that a try, with Topaz Simplify. I chose the Oil Paint preset. I then played with the strength and saturation sliders. Back in Photoshop, I lightened the boat a bit.

Wish I had the talent to oil paint. In the meantime, I'll stick with Topaz. As always, click on the continue link for the SOOC version, as well as leaving me a comment if you wish.

The Beach Runners

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm F/3.5 Macro, f/32, 1/10, iso 100

Found myself on the Pacific Ocean for Christmas. Been finding myself a lot there lately, haven't I?

This place is South Beach, in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. My wife and I are on training wheels as empty nesters, and with both our kids in SoCal, we took a shot at the next phase of our lives.  Staying in this area for a couple of nights was really great.

My wife loves to beachcomb, and I don't typically accompany her. I'm working on my photographs. But this trip was not meant to be a photo expedition, and it was darn cold out at this beach. So I thought I'd walk with her and enjoy the moment. Along with the 5D Mk II of course.

The waves were large, crashing and beautiful. I took some shots of them. Nothing too inspiring. I noticed a girl shooting some waves too. She'll likely be the subject of a Fun Friday one of these days.

Then I got the idea of trying some of my wave panning techniques. This would be the first time I would try it from the beach (usually I'm on a pier). I tried several concepts, nothing quite grabbing me while viewing them on the LCD.

I realized that the girl now had a friend join her, and they were running around, being playful on the beach. I decided to try some other camera movements, besides horizontal panning. I started seeing something I liked.

Then I heard the words of Tony Sweet who often uses "in camera effects." In a facebook post/image recently he said "as in all things photographic, you want to begin with a nice composition."  (I paraphrased.)

Surveying my scene I decided that the moment I was looking for was when the waves reached up the shore the furthest distance. I moved my self closer, then, farther, from the waves to be able to capture the sand as well, as I liked the rich colors I was getting.

Once I had my composition and my camera movement down, I played with different shutter speeds, all working when the girls were playing and the waves were doing their thing. Kind of a lot going on, but I was really enjoying it.  Many of my photo buddies know I struggle to take the time necessary at a particular location to work through all the possibilities.

Once I saw this one on the LCD, I was pretty sure it was going to be promising.  Let's find out, what do you think of it?

Also, since I have been working on these wave shots quite a bit, I have added a new category to my "category cloud" which can take you to an index listings of my wave shots.

Topaz Tuesday - Avila Fire Department

Canon 5D Mark II, 135 F/2.0 f/6.3, 1/125, iso 160

Last July we did a big trip through So Cal. At the end of our trip we were in Avila Beach, and they were having a street fair. I had my camera and was attempting some "street shooting" when I heard an old siren. Moving to the other end of the street, I caught this fireman bringing in one of their classic trucks. Old firetrucks make such amazing photo subjects.

This image is one where I used both Lightroom and Topaz. First in Lightroom, I applied a preset called Yesteryear2, to give it a vintage look. Then in Topaz I tried a few presets, settling on my old favorite Spicify. I then added a bit more Strength with that slider. Lovely combination, LR and Topaz Adjust!

Click on the continue link for the original, and to let me know how you like today's image.

Friends on Friday - Tim Fleming

The newest member of the Pace Group photography club I belong to is Tim Fleming (www.timfleming.com).  Last month's theme was called "Any 10."  This was probably the most wide open theme we have had yet.

Tim took this opportunity to create "scanner art" and I was really impressed with it. As a photographer, you go to places and then you try to create interesting compositions of the scene.  What I really appreciate about Tim's creations is that he is completely creating the composition and subject matter from scratch.

Not only that, he's doing it upside down! He uses a high end digital scanner.  He lays the items on the scanner glass, face down of course. I won't tell you all his tricks, but suffice to say he creates some lovely images.

I find these images very lovely to view. I like all the organic elements, but especially how he arranges them. My eye wants to circle around and take it all in.

So, he's not only a talented photographer, but has this fascinating artistic side as well. Nicely done Tim! Feel free to leave a comment here regarding this art, and enjoy your visit to Tim's site where there are many more examples of both regular photography and scanner art.

 

Topaz Tuesday Twofer

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/22, 1/60, iso 250

Topaz Adjust 4.0, Preset: Detail Simple Pop

After I selected today's image and began working with it in Topaz Adjust, I had a hard time deciding between the looks that two separate presets were giving me. Liking both, I thought it would be fun to go ahead and show both today, and ask you to render your opinion on which you prefer, and why.

 
Topaz Adjust 4.0, Preset: Painting - Venice

This bucolic scene is from one of my favorite areas - Pt Reyes. It's outside the park, near Tomales, CA.  It's a restaurant and small inn called Nick's Cove.  Son Nick and I went there and had a righteous lunch of fish & chips! Highly recommended.

But enough about food, back to our important photography discussion. You might want to click on the continue link now so you can see the original image.

Abstract - Pathways of My Mind

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/4.0, 1/15, iso 800

The day I made this image, I was in kind of a Thomas Hawk frame of mind. Many of the scenes before me were the kind that he does so well, and then names them with the most unusual, but always appropriate, titles. Thomas and I have never shot together, but we will, one of these days!

When I began processing this image, I didn't reeally know where I was going. I tried some crops, and some LR presets. It came to me that these were paths, very organic and important. But I also felt this image has a "sea" type aspect to it. I thought of perhaps waking up under the water, and this is what I would see...

But I was stuck with the mind pathways idea, and I realized that if one could peer into my mind, hopefully it would look a lot like the ocean, since the ocean is my element.

And I chose to display this image today because my family and I are on our way to the ocean, the Pacific, which is my favorite. This time it is just a vacation, but one day I'm going to live next to her.

Click on the continue link to leave a comment if you wish, and also I have decided to post the orginal image just for fun. It doesn't look anything like this!

Topaz Tuesday - Haunted House

Canon 5D Mark II, 14mm F/2.8, f/5.6, 1/800, iso 160

Halloween didn't fall on a Tuesday, so we have to revisit Halloween today! This is of course Preston Castle which I have shown several times on the blog.  I had seen the Topaz Adjust Night preset a while back and thought it might work well on the castle. It worked even better than I imagined. I then adjusted the saturation and brightness.  Check out that sky.

Now the funny thing is, this place really is haunted. At least that is what everyone says. The last time I was visited, a whole crew of ghostbuster sort of people were ready to enter the castle and do their paranormal thing.

I hope everyone enjoyed their halloween. Click on the continue link for the original image, I think you'll be amazed at what Topaz did!